2012 Kia Sorento Lx on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2021 Kia Sorento caught completely undisguised at a commercial shoot

Remember when Kia just sold cheap warranties wrapped in sheetmetal? After looking over these fresh spy photos of the 2021 Sorento crossover, we'd forgive you for saying no, as those days are clearly well behind the Korean automaker.  Not even a week ago, we saw leaked images of a finished example hiding out underneath a sheet, but this week's unveiling is far more comprehensive. Our spies weren't crafty enough to position themselves for any interior shots, but we have just about every angle of the new Sorento's exterior, and quite frankly, we like it a lot.  Like most newer cars, the 2021 Sorento is rocking an almost full-width grille, but we'll forgive this unfortunate bit of trendy convention because the rest of the design looks clean, contemporary and practical.  While there are plenty of details and nuances to the sheetmetal, the overall shape is fairly minimalist. It's a classic SUV silhouette with only a slight taper to the rear glass, which should allow the new Sorento to hold a good bit of cargo even with the second-row seats intact.  Also in the rear, we see that Kia has taken a page out of some European designers' playbooks with a widely spaced "SORENTO" made up of individual letters across the bottom of the tailgate. Kia has also gone for a split vertical tail light design that places interior housings on the tailgate itself and exterior housings in the quarter panels.  This Sorento also shows what appear to be integrated exhaust finishers that are mirrored by reflector housings above them, giving the whole lower rear bumper a very futuristic look.  A Kia executive confirmed that hybrid and plug-in variants are planned for the redesigned crossover, however it's not clear yet whether (or when) those variants will come to the U.S.  We're expecting to learn more about the new Sorento soon, as we've just learned it will be revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March.  Related Video:

Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.

2018 Kia Stinger GT Long-Term Review Update | Do we like the seats?

We've had our long-term 2018 Kia Stinger GT for over six months, which means we've all had a lot of seat time in the sports sedan. And those seats we've become so familiar with have stirred up some mixed opinions among the staff, which I discovered after voicing my personal dissatisfaction with the shape of the seats. In my experience, I've found the seats to offer too little lumbar support, and with short, flat bottom cushions that aren't angled to support my thighs. Managing Editor Greg Rasa and Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski agreed the seat bottom would be better if it was angled up more, but otherwise didn't have complaints about the shape. Korzeniewski also mentioned he doesn't care for aggressive lumbar support, so the Stinger seat felt fine in that regard. Editors both lighter and shorter than the aforementioned folks didn't have any complaints. Road Test Editor Reese Counts felt they were supportive enough with good adjustability. "I've got a bad back, but I was feeling fine when I got home," Counts said, referring to a road trip to St. Louis in the car. "They're not the best seats I've ever tested, but the fact that I don't think about them very much speaks for itself." Senior Producer Chris McGraw said: "I'm 5'7" and weigh 150 pounds on a good day, so I wasn't really pushing these seats to their limits. They were comfortable for long highway stretches and offered enough support when I decided to push the twin-turbo V6 while driving around some of West Michigan's curvy roads." There is something about the seats that drew near universal derision, though: the combination of interior and exterior colors. Our Stinger GT is red with a red interior, and Counts, Korzeniewski and Rasa were annoyed that the reds don't quite match. McGraw felt it was "a bit too much The Shining to me," a reference to the vivid red bathroom in the movie. I like lots of color, and wasn't put off by the mismatch, so was perfectly fine with the color scheme. No one actually disliked the red leather itself, though, and Rasa offered a solution we all could agree on, "Just don't get that combo." We all agreed the red interior would look excellent with contrasting exterior colors such as white, black and blue. And it seems that even Kia agrees, since it appears that the red-on-red combo is no longer offered on the Stinger. Related Video: